The Jai Alai Savant

Flight of the Bass Delegate (GSL)

By Chris Pacifico
Published: April 16th, 2007 | 2:34pm

Much like properly pronouncing their name, the Jai Alai (high-a-lye) Savant’s musical knack can be somewhat difficult to pinpoint. There is a flagrant dub aesthetic, which underlies their jittery pop foundation of wobbly riffs redolent of the early Clutch records that serve as the icing on the cake for the Philly-by-way-of-Chicago’s Jai Alai Savant. What’s amazing is that they seem schooled in the proto-reggae genres like soca, mento, and calypso, which are then thrown into a simmering stew of indie pop.

The Jai Alai Savant aren’t dependant on a dynamic of cheesy third wave ska pepperings to keep their grooves afloat, but instead veer on a route of a spunky pop dynamic, which rows through the early days of XTC and the Specials. The tunes at times can be a wee bit hazy but this is made up for with the sync showcased between singer/guitarist Ralph Darden and drummer Michael Bravine’s instrumental dexterity, which is no less than solid alongside the swarming bass lines of Nash Snyder.

Moments of giddy post-punk pop fusion happen to thrive with the polka-spliced-Afro Cuban groove that is “White on White Crime.” While not really fitting the mold of a concept album per se, Bass Delegate is tantamount to a lethargic circus with nooks and crannies bursting with anthemic hooks making for a heady brew of worldly punk.